Nokia's earnings returned to the black in the third quarter thanks to smartphone sales, but it also announced 1,800 layoffs.
The Finnish mobile phone maker said today that it took home a profit of 529 million euros ($741 million) in the third quarter compared with a loss of 559 million euros in the year-ago quarter. Revenue rose almost 5 percent to 10.3 billion euros from 9.8 billion euros a year back earlier.
Surpassing analyst expectations, the third-quarter results were boosted by higher selling prices on Nokia smartphones. For the quarter, the company's Devices and Services unit pulled in sales of 7.2 billion euros, an increase of 4 percent from a year ago.
Nokia sold a total of 110.4 million mobile devices up 2 percent from last year. However, sales of "converged" mobile devices (smartphones and mobile computers) hit 26.5 million units, up 61 percent from a year ago.
The solid quarter was welcome news to Nokia's new CEO, Stephen Elop, who took the reins from Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo last month.
"In the five weeks since joining Nokia, I have found a company with many great strengths and a history of achievement that are second to none in the industry," Elop said in a statement. "And yet our company faces a remarkably disruptive time in the industry, with recent results demonstrating that we must reassess our role in and our approach to this industry."
Nokia still faces a tough, competitive climate. The company announced today that it plans to streamline some of its operations, notably in its Symbian smartphone unit. That move and others will lead to the layoffs of some 1,800 employees worldwide.
